How much does drinking after a workout affect recovery and growth?

  • djquadratic@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    probably not great - alcohol is a toxin and puts the body under stress to process it. Putting additional stress and strain on the body will hamper recovery. A review article from 2010 I found after a quick google said this

    A significant body of literature has established an array of adverse symptoms caused by acute alcohol ingestion. However the notion that alcohol consumption effects performance has not received enough consistent validation to advance beyond being anecdotal

    really all this says is that there isn’t a strong body of evidence (according to this article) showing negative effects of alcohol on recovery - but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.

    another review article from 2019 had this to say in the discussion

    Only cortisol levels seem to be increased, conversely testosterone, plasma amino acids, and rates of muscle protein synthesis decreased

    and

    The general findings therefore highlight that muscle function is not altered by alcohol consumption following exercise bouts, however the altered endocrinological asset regarding cortisol and testosterone and the consequent suppressed rates of muscular protein synthesis and reduced circulating levels of amino acids, suggest that long-term muscular adaptations could be impaired

    effectively saying that alcohol itself doesn’t directly impact recovery or hypertrophy - but downstream effects of alcohol on hormone levels can have a negative impact

    but it also comes down to how much you’re drinking, and the reasons for drinking. If its like 1-2 drinks per week, that’s going to be a much smaller impact than if its a 1-2 drinks every evening to wind down.